Explanation:
Is that ice under the Phoenix spacecraft on Mars?
Quite possibly.
Phoenix, which landed a week ago,
was expected to dig under the Martian soil to search for ice,
but the lander's braking rockets may already have uncovered some during descent.
Pictured above
is an image taken last week by the
Robotic Arm Camera
showing the unusual light-colored substance just in front of
Phoenix's landing pad.
Over the next few weeks,
Phoenix
will continue to photograph its surroundings, analyze the composition of this
hard light substrate, and dig into the surrounding soil.
Were the unusual light substrate indeed Martian ice, it would give Phoenix a convenient pedestal to investigate the history of
water on Mars, and to better determine whether the boundary between ice and soil was ever capable of
supporting life.